Take a tour of the old site at 140 SW Fifth Street from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18 . There is a tentative plan for a grand opening at the new site at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug 29 at 800 SE Eighth Street. A brief ceremony followed by guided tours will take place before the school supply drop-off at 5 p.m
Dundee Elementary School was built in 1953 — so long ago that it’s textbook history. That was the year Dwight D. Eisenhower became the 34th president of the United States, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, and Disney released its classic cartoon film, “Peter Pan.”
The plans for the 49,700-square-foot building at 140 SW Fifth Street depend on what its future owner decides (more details to come). What we know for certain is construction officials deemed the building to be less than ideal for K-5 students. Voters agreed and supported a bond measure to fund additions, upgrades, and repairs to schools districtwide, including creating a new home for Dundee students. But what exactly was amiss with the Fifth Street site?
Bond Manager Larry Hampton noted that building systems, such as heating and cooling, were getting toward the end of their functional lives. Old Dundee also wasn’t right for modern-day learning and wasn’t the best place for children to play.
“This is a building that was designed for a different time and a different educational model,” Hampton said. “There are no flexible or extended learning areas for independent study or private instruction]. It would be difficult to remodel the space to make it more conducive to current teaching practices because of the narrow hallways. The location right on 99W is also a factor. For much of the school's existence, 99W was a small country road. Now, it is a busy highway that is dangerous to cross. It is also a source of exhaust fumes that can get sucked into air intakes.”
Its gym isn’t new either, dating to 1937, (two years before World War II began), and its lower level houses old, dusty locker rooms outfitted with rusted showers.
Dundee Principal Tim Wright explained the current gym was part of the old high school that was next door. He’s right. The plot along 99W used to include a school for older students but the area became home solely to an elementary school in 1953. This was the year Newberg and Dundee became a consolidated school district. That was when Dundee students in the upper grades began to commute to Newberg schools, according to archival research of The Newberg Graphic by Newberg Public Library Director Korie Jones Buerkle.
But that site is older than living memory, with a lengthy timeline of advances. Dundee students in the 1800s attended classes in a couple of locations until the first Dundee school building was put in place at the Fifth Street site in 1893, according to archival research of The Newberg Graphic by Lesley Carsley, former Dundee Principal.
A few key milestones for the elementary school on Fifth Street include:
- In 1910, it obtained electricity.
- In 1953, the bricks of the current structure were laid.
- In 1978, Dundee-Bilick Park, once the Bilick family orchard next door to the school, joined the Chehalem Park and Recreation District.
- In 1989, three classrooms were added.
- In 1994, the downstairs cafeteria was replaced with one on an upper floor, and three more classes were installed.
Now, thirty years after that 1994 addition and 131 years after Dundee first arrived at that site, a brand-new Dundee is ready for occupancy half a mile away at 800 SE Eighth Street.
That Eighth Street was chosen with care.
“The District owns much of the land that makes up Billick Park, and we could have built farther up the hill from the highway,” Hampton noted. “However, this would have displaced the two baseball fields in the park, and disrupted other parts of the park. We heard clearly from Dundee citizens that they did not want the park disturbed. There would have also been extra costs to tear down the old school and to replace ballfields on the site. Additionally, more of the students who go to the school live on the east side of 99W. They will be more likely to walk or bike to the new site.”
The new location will be about the same size as the other one but will have 16 classrooms instead of the old building’s 18. That’s because it will offer other learning spaces spread throughout the campus. Those spaces will accommodate extended and flexible learning, including built-in seating areas outdoors.
Wright said the new site offers students so much more than the old one.
“The new building is designed with learning pods that contain indoor and outdoor common learning areas,” Wright said. “The school is set up with improved flow and is organized with learning wings and an activities wing, making it better suited to both school days and community activities.”
The Eighth Street site was designed for modern-day learning, and it shouldn’t flood or have old systems near the end of its life. In addition, it is located away from a busy highway. Of course, the Dundee community may still long for the memories that echo in those narrow halls of a time-honored school on a historical site. However, the crisp, clean Eighth Street school is ready and waiting to be filled with laughter and learning this fall and for many years to come.
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Want to see what the Dundee community will miss about the old school building?